Crying Out
by SpiderNeko
Summary: The Nations find themselves in a terrifying situation, filled with mystery, terror, illusion, and death.
1. Chapter 1

_The wind howled through the halls of the World Meeting building, sending chills down the spines of all who were indoors at the time. The bitter cold of the October air disturbed everyone, raising the hair on the back of their necks. Had someone left a window open somewhere? Maybe someone had opened the door. No matter the cause, the result was unsettling._

_The wind wisped about the meeting hall, carrying papers about and tossing them of the large table in the center of the room that all had been gathered by. Some escaping stationary was swiftly caught, a hand slamming down upon them. The blonde man hurriedly straightened the papers and set them back down, setting a small paper weight on top of them. He sighed in relief before noticing that he hasn't the only one with this particular dilemma. A few others who weren't quick enough were scattered about retrieving their documents._

"_Sorry about this, guys!" The blonde addressed the whole assembly, "Maybe we should wrap this meeting up for today, and pick it back up after this draft gets fixed." Everyone nodded in agreement and packed up their belongings. As everyone left, the blonde scratched his head as he watched the condensation outside the window slide down the pane, generally bothered._

"_Hey, Alfred," spoke a quiet voice, "Everything alright?" The blonde turned to see the other, and flashed an assuring grin._

"_Yeah, I'm fine!" He said. He patted the quiet man on the shoulder. "Why don't we go to McDonald's or something, your treat?" They both laughed, but there was a subtle uneasiness in the air, that no one could place._

There were only seven attendees remaining in the hall by the time everyone had left. Whether they had papers to pick up, or just lingered behind, they all had stayed the extra minute, and had all begun to converse.

There was Alfred F. Jones, the blonde, heading the meeting and hailing from the United States of America; Matthew Williams, Alfred's younger brother, quiet and from the country of Canada; Arthur Kirkland, the man with the superb eyebrows from the United Kingdom; Kiku Honda, the composed man from Japan; Ivan Braginsky, the tall man from Russia; Basch Zwingli from Switzerland, and Wang Yao, from China.

Basch crawled about on the floor of the hall, searching underneath chair after chair, searching, for something. The Japanese gentleman, Kiku, approached the Swiss.

"Are you looking for something?" he asked politely.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a purple ribbon. It fell out of my sister's hair before we left, and she's waiting and in the parking lot for me." He said, not once, removing himself from the narrow space from which he crawled. Kiku handed him something from his pocket, a small bow ribbon.

"I found this not long ago. Here."

"Oh, thanks!" Basch took the ribbon and dashed out of the room, obviously in a rush to meet back with his younger sister. Kiku then returned to sorting the remainder of his papers.

Arthur, Matthew, and Alfred had all be chatting by the window, mainly discussing the terrible draft. They were soon joined by Yao.

"Seriously, Alfred, this place is nearly in shambles," Arthur spat, "You need to take better care of your buildings here!" Alfred laughed and stepped back from the angry Briton.

"I'd love to have the draft fixed, but I just can't seem to find it. I've been spending the last few days searching for the darn thing, but I just can't seem to figure out where it is."

"Hey, guys," Yao piped in, "Why are all of you still hanging around here, let's go get something to eat." Alfred lit up at the suggestion.

"Sure, if you don't mind paying! I was gonna get Mattie here to buy something for me, but since you're offering—"Alfred was cut off by Arthur, scolding him for trying to weasel money from Yao. Matthew also spoke to Al about his insistence on him being the one to pay all this time. Still in his chair, Ivan had been watching the four converse, laughing at the comedy of the situation. Ivan had not had the trouble of loose papers, but he always liked to leave last from these sorts of meetings, just out of curiosity of what the other members had to say afterword. Once the four had begun leaving, Ivan decided it was also time to leave. On their way out, Arthur noticed Kiku still arranging his papers. He joined him.

"Kiku, are you still sorting your papers?" the Briton asked. He then noticed the separate piles of papers strewn across the table. "What's all this?" he inquired.

"Those are papers that were left behind. This pile here is papers from the group of Nordics. This pile is Feliciano's. I believe, these are Antonio's papers-"

"Kiku, it's alright, you don't have to sort this much all by yourself. I'll take care of this all when I return tomorrow. Just leave it all in the shelf." Kiku was pleased by the gesture, and bowed to Arthur.

"Thank you, Arthur-san." Together, they put all the papers in the shelf, and exited into the hallway. In the corridor, though, they were greeted by a breathless Matthew. He looked as though he had just run a marathon. He was slumped over, his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Arthur walked up to him, worried.

"Matthew, are you alright?" he asked, with Kiku not far behind him. Arthur bent down closer to the shaken Matthew. The Canadian lifted his head, his breathing heavy and his eyes wide. He wiped some escaping saliva from the edge of his mouth with the sleeve of his suit.

"I-I... I didn't see-" Matthew muttered. Arthur stooped closer and held onto the poor man's shoulders.

"Mattie, boy, what happened?"

"I... I never saw what happened... But, Al told me to come get you... I think I saw something, but it couldn't possibly be..." Matthew shook, then stood up, propping himself up against the wall. He pointed in an indiscernible direction down the hall. "In the parking lot... I'll catch up in a minute... go." He wheezed. Arthur hesitantly followed his orders, followed by Kiku. They hurried down the stairs and raced out the door into the foggy parking lot.

Arthur went to Alfred's side, and asked what all the commotion was about. But before he was answered, he saw it.

It was Basch, kneeling down on the ground, holding something in his arms with considerable grip. He moaned in sadness, which was unlike him. Arthur looked around at the others who were outside with them. Yao was sitting on the pavement, knees held close, and a bewildered look frozen on his face. Ivan was shocked, too, but it was hard to tell, since his face was mildly covered by the thick fog. Arthur knew something was gravely wrong, but he couldn't imagine what had happened. He inched toward Basch, and when no one halted him, he approached the boy. He could hear the muttered cry of, "Lilli... my poor Lilli..."

Coddled in Basch's arms was the cold, lifeless body of his poor little sister, skin ice white, who had been waiting for him after the meeting. Arthur backed up slightly, frightened by the terrible sight. Basch continued to sob quietly, and hold the girl tighter in his arms; Arthur feared she would break under his grip. Arthur looked back at Alfred, who was currently dialling emergency services, and at Kiku, who was looking about curiously, unable to see the incident through the fog from the distance where he was standing.

Arthur had never imagined this would ever happen, and frankly, neither did anyone else.

_Note 1: I'm naming everyone by their human names, making them human, and thus susceptible to death._

_Note 2: Switzerland's human name Basch Zwingli is the correct translation of his name._

_Hope you all like my story so far! More to come eventually! LOL_


	2. Chapter 2

The group had retreated back into the warmth of the World Meeting building, Basch still outside, refusing to leave his sister's side. The building was warm, though there was still the same draft as before, spilling in from somewhere, occasionally sending an uncomfortable shiver down everyone's' spines.

Arthur, Alfred, Yao, Ivan, and Kiku were all resting in the dim stairwell, the fluorescent light above flickering darkly, resulting in a strange glow. Everyone was silent as they waited for emergency services to arrive. Alfred stood against the wall alongside the door leading back outside, with Kiku parallel to him, sitting down on the bottom stairs, seemingly lost in thought. Ivan stood a small ways down the lower hall, with Yao standing at half that distance. Arthur rested his arm against the rail of the stairs; he looked down at Kiku and felt a pang of some undesirable felling in his stomach.

In Kiku's mind, the event that had transpired earlier that afternoon replayed in his head over and over, of when he and Basch spoke to each other and Kiku had found Lilli's hair ribbon. Kiku's stomach churned, and he felt like he would soon throw up.

"I had never imagined this could happen..." Kiku groaned, not even caring who heard at this point, "I was just speaking with him, upstairs..." He then buried his face into his hands and silenced himself. Everyone grew even more sombre, and Arthur moved to sit next to the quiet wreck, patting his back gently.

"Neither of us expected this..." he said, hoping to help ease the situation. The silence now was depressing, everyone kept to themselves, and no one wanted to speak. It was so quiet, that when the sound of a crash from upstairs sounded, it hurt everyone's ears. They all looked up the stairs in reaction. That was when Arthur and Alfred remembered poor Matthew, who said he would catch up to them later.

"Aw man, Mattie!" Alfred exclaimed, leave his leaning position and staggering toward the stairs. Arthur stopped him before he went up, saying he would find Matthew for him.

"You should wait for the ambulance, you're the one who called for it, it's the least you could do." Alfred seemed reluctant to the idea, though said nothing. "I'll bring him back here, immediately, alright?"

Arthur tore up the stairs, everyone left behind watched him go. Alfred stood, ill at ease.

Upstairs, the hall Matthew was in before was empty, the Canadian was nowhere in sight. Panic struck Arthur hard, but he managed to suppress the terrible feeling. He peered into the hall where everyone had been gather prior, and found the poor boy picking up knocked over chairs, his face pale. Arthur ran to him, relieved.

"Matthew, thank goodness! I heard a noise! I was worried sick!" all the words came flooding out of his mouth. Matthew was not so energetic, though.

"Is it true?" he pondered, "Is what I saw true?" Arthur recoiled at the question, but still gave an answer, disheartened.

"Yes, there has been an incident... Alfred's called an ambulance." Matthew's expression grew sadder. "I'm sorry." Arthur said.

"It's alright... I'm fine... just a little confused, that's all." Matthew brushed some hair out of his face, and then bumped gently into Arthur, who soon gave him a gentle hug to comfort him. Arthur then guided Matthew back out into the hallway, suggesting they wait together with the others to avoid anymore worry and confusion.

Alfred tackled his brother, almost knocking all three of them over. Arthur scolded him, but Al didn't listen to him, he just wanted to hug his poor little brother. Everyone was relieved to see Matthew unharmed; it even distracted them from the disaster outside.

_CLANG!_

The metal door sounded and jolted, something had hit the door hard (luckily not slamming the large door open), startling everyone. Cautiously, they all approached the door. Listening hard, they could barely hear the sound of Basch as he muttered something. He was speaking to someone, but not in the manner to which he was "speaking" with Lilli. His tone was harsh and panicked. The group jumped when the sound of gunshots rang though the air. Another strike against the door, and screams could be heard echoing out. Everyone's blood ran cold, and the shivering from the draft was now dreadfully stronger, practically freezing everyone to the spot. It was then that Ivan reached into his coat, pulling out a concealed weapon, a faucet pipe, and charged though the door at full speed. The others followed him swiftly, inspired by his bravery. When they were out, they did not see any sign of Basch, nor Lilli. All they found was a long, fresh smear of blood on the pavement, trailing off into the thick, endless fog.

"Basch!" Kiku cried out, before being muffled by Yao's hand over his mouth.

"Don't yell! It's not safe!" He whimpered. Kiku wriggled out of Yao's grasp and stepped away to stand on his own. Alfred, too, desperately wanted to shout out for Basch, but knew better than that. No one knew what had happened, but had all agreed, unspoken, that it would not be safe to make any loud noises. Alfred's gaze lowered, and then caught sight of a gun, presumably the one that was fired, lying on the ground below. Matthew recognised it as Basch's, and Alfred picked it up.

"I'll hold onto this for him..." he sighed, stuffing the handgun into his jacket pocket. That was all Kiku could take, his heart ached too much to stand anymore idling. Before anyone could even reach out to him, he had run off into the empty white, fading out.

"KIKU!" Arthur screamed. He raced after him, but was grabbed by Alfred. Everyone stared into the blank surroundings, listening to the sounds of Kiku calling out Basch's name over and over, until he was so far away he could no longer be heard. Arthur tried to free himself from Alfred, but had no such luck. There was the sound of a low rumbling noise, and everyone retreated back into the building, Arthur having to practically be guided back inside, he wouldn't take his eyes off the direction where Kiku had ran.

...xXxXxXx...

The underground parking lot was not spared its share of fog, making it very hard to see where anyone's car was. A small group of lost searchers were carefully searching about the vehicles.

"See it yet?" called the taller one, a notable German accent carried in his voice.

"Not yet, Ludwig, are you sure it's parked in this row?" responded the other German of an albino complexion, making it hard to have seen him in the fog if it weren't for his dark uniform.

"Antonio, are you having any luck with your car?" The German by the name of Ludwig asked. The Spaniard poked his head out from a crowd of large cars, and called back, reporting his bad luck, also. Ludwig scratched his head and continued looking through the cars around him. Antonio could be heard in the distance, whining.

"I wish Feliciano and Lovino took us with them, they're already gone! Why'd you leave me, Lovi?" The sap joked, rhetorically calling out to his distant Italian friend.

"Shut up and pull your weight over there!" shouted the perturbed albino.

"Calm down, Gilbert." Ludwig ordered his older brother. Gilbert huffed and resumed his duty. It wasn't long before Antonio called out to the Germans.

"I think I found your car, Ludwig!"

"See, I told you it wasn't in my row, you dolt!" Gilbert barked jokingly. Ludwig ignored his comment and rushed over to Antonio to confirm whether he was correct in finding the right vehicle or not. Gilbert scuffed his heels on the asphalt before moving to join them, but was distracted by a slithering sound. The hair on the back of his neck stood up; he patted it back down nonchalantly. He turn around and looked back to see what had made the noise, but saw nothing of the sort. He chuckled nervously, dismissing the unnerving moment, when he suddenly heard it again, coming from the other direction. This time, he whipped around quickly, barely catching the glimpse of something escaping away underneath a nearby car, startling him fiercely. He was about to call to his brother and Antonio, but indecisively changed his mind, his curiosity overpowering his judgement. Slowly, he bent down onto his knees, and slowly lowered himself, peering carefully under the car's body. The darkness under the car seemed to conceal anything hiding in there, if anything was even hiding there anymore. He could feel his heart pounding less and less, settling down finally.

"Gilbert, come on, Antonio found it! Let's go!" Ludwig called. Gilbert turned his head upward from his low position, so that his voice would carry.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Gilbert lifted himself up, luckily at the last possible second before something lunged out from under the car with a sharp hiss. Gilbert threw himself upward off the ground, shouting in fear and surprise! He never got a very good look at what had sprung out, but all he knew is that it would've got him right in the throat, and it did not sound too friendly. Gilbert dashed away down the lane of cars, eluding the mysterious thing, making grunts of panic as he ran. Ludwig and Antonio watched his frantic display, unmoving, having no idea what he was up to.

"Bro!" he shouted as he ran, "Start the car! Start the car!" Confused, yet not wanting to hesitate, Ludwig leapt into the driver's seat and commenced starting the automobile; Antonio crawled into the back seat. They pulled out of the parking spot quickly and zoomed down the lane parallel to Gilbert's current path. Gilbert frequently glanced back as he ran, occasionally seeing the thing pop in and out of the dense fog, sounding the cold hiss constantly. Gilbert ran faster and as he reached the end of the lane, Ludwig had stopped the car in his path, with Antonio holding a door open for him. Gilbert jumped and landed along the stretch of the backseat, Antonio slamming the door shut behind him. Ludwig then stomped on the gas, spinning the tires. A light thump, a screech, and a ripping sound could be heard as the car sped away. Ludwig looked into the "driver's side" mirror and saw the creature, caught up in the back tire, spinning and tearing apart, slapping the wheel well hard as the limp chunk looped around in the wheel.

"What the hell is that?" he hollered. Unfocused on his driving, the front wheel drove onto the railing over the steps next to the exit way, lifting the car onto its side, poor unbelted Gilbert sliding into Antonio's arms, who held him as tightly as he could so he would get injured. The car skidded on its side for a moment before crashing down onto in roof. It slid further, then halted in the empty lane outside the lot. Everything was silent... all except for the wind quietly whispering though the broken windows of the car...

_Author's Note: Yay another chapter! I hope i'm making this seem realistic, or close enough to it, being a fanfic and all LOL Hoping to have the next chapter up soon, wish me luck!_


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur stomped up and down hallway outside the meeting hall, deep in thought, while the others sat at the table in the spacious room.

"Arthur, just come sit down," sighed Matthew, who was unsettled by Arthur's behaviour, "Let's all try and think of a plan." Arthur whipped around in the doorway and faced Matthew.

"We can't wait! We have to find Kiku as soon as possible!" he shouted, his sternness wavering with fear. Alfred stood up, his chair flying back.

"WHAT CAN WE DO FOR HIM WITHOUT A PLAN FIRST, YOU IDIOT!" Everyone froze, surprised by Alfred's sudden outburst. He had been well to keep his composure in troubling situations, but something seemed to have him quite on edge, maybe more than what was happening around them. Arthur slumped, then quietly walked to a chair.

"So, what should we do? Any ideas?" Ivan asked out, taking it upon himself to break the silence and get the discussion going. Everyone began focusing on the subject at hand, thinking hard about what their course of action would be. Alfred wrapped his fingers against the tabletop as he thought, annoying some of the others.

"If there were a few more of us, I'd suggest splitting into groups. One group of us searches for Kiku, and the other search for Basch." he threw out there.

"But Basch is—"Matthew stopped when he felt everyone's gaze fall upon him, all staring, as if waiting to hear what he'd say about the poor Swiss. Matthew's lips froze, he didn't know what to say, the idea abandoned his mind, and he tilted his head down, "Sorry, never mind."

"We can only assume at this point that Basch is dead." Ivan reported. Matthew felt at ease, happy that someone wasn't too afraid to face the facts, and thanked him in his heart. "We could try that though," the Russian continued, "We could try sending a couple of us out in search of Kiku, while the others stay and stand guard, maybe."

"Or maybe the second group could try to call the police, or something." Yao commented.

"No, we already have an ambulance on the way; the police might probably already be on the way along with them." Alfred piped in.

"Then, maybe they could stay behind, but hold some kind of rope for them, so the first group can get back." Yao corrected.

"So they don't get lost? That sounds like a great idea." Arthur agreed, finally speaking once again.

"Then, let's do that, quick!" cheered Alfred, ready and raring to go. He lifted his brother, Matthew, out of his chair and pulled him along by his arm, who quietly protested. They were followed by Ivan, then Yao. Arthur took a while longer to join them. He sat in his chair, silently, staring forward, out the window and into the endless fog outside it. He wondered something, he wondered about _why_ there was so much fog out. _We_ _aren't near any water, and the air is relatively cool, so it couldn't have been caused by those factors,_ He thought, _and it hasn't rained in a while either, nor has it been humid... _Extremely puzzled by this thoughts, he decided to take caution, and report this to the others later. For now, he needed to help them find Kiku. That's what mattered most at that moment.

...xXxXxXx...

"Ludwig-san, Antonio-san... wake up!" a gentle, yet shaky voice called. Antonio was the one to wake up first. He opened his eyes, and quickly felt the sharp pain of the lump on his head, that he must have sustained when the car flipped. He tiredly moved his hand to comfort the ache, but only made the tender skin sting more. He looked up to see the anticipating face of Kiku, the Japanese gentleman from the meeting earlier, he remembered him, always so calm and quiet, not like this, not like he was now, with his tense eyes and sweaty forehead. He barely believed he was correct at first, that it even really was him, but he pushed that thought away and inched up toward him.

"Kiku Honda? Why are you here?" Antonio groaned, his entire body throbbing as he spoke.

"I found you three in your car, flipped. I pulled you all out. I'm actually trying to administer first-aid on Gilbert-san right now." Kiku informed him, gesturing toward the miniature first-aid kit that would normally be found in someone's car. It was at the mention of Gilbert that Antonio pushed himself up right, and turned to see him, to see if he was okay. When the car was flipping, Antonio had tried to hold onto him, since Gilbert didn't have his seatbelt on, but he remembered hitting his head hard when the car landed upside down, which he deducted that it knocked him out cold.

Lying on the pavement next to him was Gilbert in numerous bandages and wrappings, all small in size, but almost covering what you could see of his arms entirely, all of them patched up cuts from the glass. He wasn't too worried about those, those would heal up fine, but it was the large gash on his forehead that made him cringe. It wasn't bad, it wouldn't even need stitches, but it was enough to make Antonio's heart break.

"Gilbert! Gilbert!" he cried. He shook him lightly, but Kiku removed his hand.

"Please, try not to disturb him. He will wake up when he is meant to." Kiku advised. Antonio placed his hands on his knees, keeping them out of Kiku's way as he rubbed some medicinal alcohol on his large wound.

"I should've held onto him better," The Spaniard grimaced, now clutching the cloth of his pant legs tightly, "If I hadn't hit my head—"

"Stop whining about this like he was your responsibility." Kiku remarked sternly. "He should have taken better care of _himself_, so you should take care of yourself." Antonio wilted, and watched Kiku stick a large square of gauze to Gilbert's head, the colors of white mesh and medical tape and his pale skin blending with each other.

"He'll be alright, though, won't he?" he muttered. Kiku did not answer; he stuck to his task, and then once he was done, went on to tend to Ludwig's injuries. Antonio decided to stay quiet and leave him to his work. He huddled up, pulling his knees up to his chest, and quietly watched the tufts of fog roll by ahead of him. _Lovino, Feliciano, I hope you two are alright, _He thought, thinking about those two brothers, those poor dorks. He only hoped that they got out of this place before anything bad happened to them.

"Antonio, hand me the disinfectant, please." Kiku asked. Antonio passed him the alcohol.

"Here." He paused for a moment afterward. "How did you find us?" Ludwig winced when the alcohol connected with his wounds, but he did not wake yet.

"I was... searching for someone else. I just happened to find you three. This fog is so dense, if I hadn't found you, nobody would have." The air felt colder, and Antonio faltered before thanking Kiku. He nodded back in response, and returned to his task, wrapping up Ludwig's arm. Ludwig twisted slightly, restless, not yet awake. "You three should really be inside right now." Kiku warned.

"I know," he agreed, "We kind of had a bit of trouble... as you can tell." He gestured toward the direction of which he thought their inverted car rested. Kiku looked at him inquisitively.

"Then you know something is wrong, then?"

"Yeah, Gilbert had something come after him, I think. I never saw it, but I think Ludwig did, though. He said something like, 'what's that?' and then we crashed." Antonio spoke automatically, not really grasping what he was saying as he spoke. Kiku stood up, and lifted the groaning Ludwig slightly, by the shoulders.

"Help me carry him; there are some doors over there." Antonio rose to his feet and grabbed onto Ludwig's legs, giving them a hardy lift. They quickly transported him to the nearby door, and laid him down gently, he breathed quietly. They hurried back to Gilbert and did the same for him. Kiku held the door open, while Antonio dragged the limp men inside one-by-one. It was warmer inside, but still chilled from the draft. They laid the brothers down side-by-side along the wall tucked below the flight of stairs leading to the second floor. Antonio and Kiku sat against the opposite wall, watching over them until they woke up.

"Thanks, Kiku." Antonio said again.

"Do not worry about that too much." Kiku replied modestly. Antonio patted him on the back and chuckled briefly. But they did not remain in good spirits for long, for above them, a terrible rumble coursed through the metal rails of the staircase, as if someone had banged something hard against it. They both looked up at the same time, chills running down their backs. Antonio stood up, keeping his focus on the upper floor as he walked around to the steps. Kiku grabbed his pant leg, a look of worry and desperation on his face. Antonio met his gaze with a look of courage and confidence, giving Kiku the feeling that he'd be safe. Kiku let go, reluctantly, but with confidence. Antonio reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pen, his only choice for a weapon at the moment. He cautiously crept up the stairs, silent as a cat, his hand gripped on the rail. He rounded the corner of the stairs, and looked up in time to see something fall on top of him. He panicked and tried to push the load off, but it had caught him off balance, and he was unable to shift the weight off. He tried to fight back with his pen, but he began to fall back, and in a race to find something to hold on to, he dropped the tool. He quickly shouted out, then fell onto the ground, the weight still on him, keeping him down. He cried out, in both fear and pain, great pain, as the lump on the back of his head had struck the ground when he landed. The horrible throbbing sensation pulsed through his entire being, and he writhed beneath his unknown captor.

Kiku raced up the stairs, unprotected, in a thoughtless act to help him, but instead, eased up and sighed. He pulled the weight off of Antonio, revealing it to be none other than poor old Yao, who had tripped over his own pant leg not once, but twice. Yao was surprised to find that he had "stumbled" upon them, and was extremely delighted.

"HEY!" Yao hollered back, into the upper hall. "I FOUND KIKU! AND ANTONIO'S HERE, TOO!" The sound of the rush of footsteps in their direction made them feel much better; the sense that everyone was so eager to see them again was a good feeling. Antonio, smiling, looked down through the opening between the rails to see how Ludwig and Gilbert were doing down there, unconscious. Ludwig was sitting himself upright slowly, and it even looked as though Gilbert was starting to rustle about.

Everyone was greeted with warm feelings. Arthur raced to Kiku, along with Matthew. Ivan greeted Antonio and Yao. Alfred ventured down the stairs to see Ludwig and Gilbert, and bent down to see if they were alright. They all rejoiced loudly, and laughed and joked.

A blood-curdling shriek spilled through every corridor, a feminine scream of pure terror, halting everyone's words and movements. Bodies frozen in fear, everyone turned their heads in the direction of the sound. It came from the first floor, it seemed. Alerted by the sharp noise, Gilbert stirred and woke finally, his head pounding. The scream occurred once again, in a shorter burst, and it caught his attention. He tilted his head, in the same direction as everyone else. His neutral expression turned to one of worry and he quickly recognized the voice in the scream.

"Elizabetha?" he groaned.

_ooooh! what's gonna happen now, now that i've introduced a new character to the story omg! anyway, hope you guys are liking this story so far. I'm really enjoying this tale, and i hope y'all like it, too. I've been wanting to update this sooner, but i've had things to do, and it made me sad. I'd really appreciate it if y'all reviewed this story, it'd give me things to look out for when writing, and maybe even inspire some future ideas. Anyway, chapter 4 will be on it's way as soon as it can, and it's gonna be good, especially since gilbert's awake! and Kiku's gonna get a good talking too once they're all in a safe area again. see you soon!_


	4. Chapter 4

The vase from on top of the small table in the hall smashed when it hit the floor, after it was knocked off of the table with considerable force. Elizabetha, the young Hungarian girl, who had, also, attended the meeting earlier, ran clumsily down the hall. She tripped and stumbled as she ran, panicked, frightened. She never looked back to see if anything was actually in pursuit, she wanted to, but she couldn't take the chance of slowing down.

"Stay away from me!" she shouted, breathing heavily. She rounded the turn at the end of the hall, gripping the wall and nearly slipping. She failed to maintain her balance, though, and tripped over her own feet. She landed hard on the floor, nearly knocking the wind out of herself. She hurriedly lifted herself up and was running once more.

Behind her, she could hear a strange sound, a large, wispy sound. It hummed deeply and grew louder as she ran, like something was catching up to her. Her heart pounded harder and harder, but she stayed strong and kept running, she swore in her heart that she wouldn't fall again.

"ELIZABETHA!" she heard somebody call out before she was caught up in someone's grasp. Whoever it was held onto her tightly, and pulled her into a room to the right. She hollered and struck that which bound her, but it let go once the door was closed behind them. She flew back, falling onto the floor again, a pain lightly coursed through her arm, which hit the ground first. She looked up to see Gilbert, who was rubbing at the spots where she had kept hitting him.

"Gilbert?" she asked in disbelief, though grateful to be pulled out of danger. She quickly looked around the room they were in to see all the others who were with him. Elizabetha was helped to her feet by Antonio. "What are you all doing here?"

"We're all here for different reasons, I guess." said Alfred.

"What happened?" asked Ludwig. Elizabetha paused briefly, confused, then explained.

"I came back looking for Roderich, he came back looking for his missing papers, he told me to wait for him." She stopped to think, "He took too long to come back, so I went inside to look for him. I couldn't find him anywhere I thought he would be, so I figured I'd wait in the foyer, so I-" she stopped again. She breathed in sharply. "Then... then I-" Gilbert grumbled aloud.

"That stupid Austrian, leaving you like that, He's just an idiot." He groaned in a jokingly manner, then patted her firmly on the back.

"Gilbert, let her speak." Ludwig advised. Gilbert backed off from Elizabetha, wordlessly.

"I was in the foyer... when I... heard somebody in the hallway... walking... but... there was no one there when I looked. I thought it was probably Gilbert trying to play a trick on me-"

"HEY! Why me?"

"I called out to whoever it was and something... something tried to hit me!" Everyone's attention peaked, especially Gilbert's.

"Who was it?" he asked loudly, anger that someone would dare attack her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye, "Who was it that tried to hit you?"

"I don't know, I just ran!" Elizabetha shouted and covered her ears, then knelt to the floor, escaping his grasp. Gilbert pulled his hands back slowly, sadly. Everyone wilted a little, and decided to lay off asking her anymore questions until she calmed down some. Alfred glanced about the room and view the time on the old clock above them on the wall.

"7:48. We finished our meeting 13 minutes ago. Do you think that ambulance is here yet?" he pointed out. He looked at a few of the others, who were all in turn looking at others as well.

"I'll go check," said Yao, "I'll be back in a second." Yao raced out the door and down the hall. Without saying anything, Ivan followed him. Elizabetha was still shaken up by her ordeal, so Antonio guided her over to the table, sitting her down in one of the many chairs provided. Arthur looked out the window into the fog once more, and remembered what he wanted to mention to everyone, but he was a little too late, since two people had left once again, but he felt his question could not wait. He gestured at Alfred, beckoning him over into the corner of the room. The others were busy trying to calm Elizabetha down.

"What's up, Arthur?" Alfred asked.

"I'm just confused about something. Is the weather here usually this... foggy? It seems a little unusual."

"What are you talking about?" Alfred scratched his head. "It's just fog? What's so... not normal about it?"

"Fog is caused by certain things, you fool." Arthur groaned. "Judging by your recent weather patterns, this area shouldn't be getting fog, it should be clear as can be out there." Alfred remained puzzled as he glanced from the window back to Arthur again.

"I don't know-" he started, but stopped when his cell rang. "Uh, one sec, I'll be right back." He said, then exiting the room. Arthur was annoyed by the interruption, but he was more annoyed by Alfred leaving so abruptly to take the call, they were in the middle of a discussion. Left without anything to do anymore, he wandered over to the part of the table where Elizabetha was seated, along with the others who stayed behind.

"Elizabetha, take it easy, just calmly tell us what happened." Antonio said as sincerely as he could in the situation. Elizabetha breathed deeply and everyone became anxious to see what she's say.

"I have no idea what was there but... it tried to attack me. I never got a good look at it, it struck me from behind. I knew I was in trouble so I ran for it." She explained quietly. Gilbert was wrapping his fingers on the table, frustrated, but stopped when Arthur and Antonio shot a look at him. Elizabetha did not say anything else after that, besides asking everyone to leave her alone for a bit. Alfred came back into the room, his call over and went back to Arthur, who was now carrying conversation with Matthew.

"Sorry about that, it wasn't anything important." He explained. He noticed Elizabetha alone at the table. "She say anything else?" Matthew shook his head.

"She doesn't really know what happened, herself. She doesn't want to talk now." The brother said.

"So, what do we do?" Antonio interjected. "Because now, it seems there's something dangerous inside the building." Everyone thought quietly for a moment, not knowing how exactly to go about the situation. Yao and Ivan returned, drawing everyone's attention in the silence of it all.

"The ambulance still hasn't arrived." Yao announced.

"It probably got lost outside... with all of this fog, it wouldn't surprise me." Kiku noted.

"What's all this about an ambulance, anyway?" Gilbert asked. "Because I bet I could use a medic anytime now." He said, pointing to the gauze wrapping on his forehead. Most of the group grew somber once again, reminded of the trauma that had earlier befallen them.

"Gilbert... Don't ask that." Ludwig advised, even though he had the same question.

"Anyway, what should we do?" Yao asked.

"We were all just wondering that ourselves." Matthew said.

"Maybe we should come up with a few ideas." Antonio proposed.

"Good idea, I'll write them down," Matthew pulled a pen out of his pocket and flipped a loose paper from the desk on the corner over, and began writing down their ideas.

"We could try leaving." Yao said first. "We'd have to be careful in this fog, though."

"Maybe we shouldn't," Alfred objected. "We should try waiting a little longer. Some of us need that ambulance."

"But what if it doesn't arrive," Antonio tossed in. "We got to have some kind of plan in case no one's coming."

"Someone should also try getting a hold of Feliciano and Lovino." Ludwig said. "They have their cell with them."

"If we're leaving, we need to find Roderich," Elizabetha pointed out, surprising everyone. Gilbert grumbled, but sighed.

"I'll go find Roderich. You can stay here," he said to Elizabetha. He began marching toward the door, when he turned back. "It shouldn't take long, who wants to come with me?" He asked.

"I'll go." Yao said.

"I'll go, too." Said Antonio.

"Yup," Gilbert huffed, "We'll be back in five." The three of them left the room, with Ivan quietly tagging along unannounced. Elizabetha was silent after that and buried her face in her arms, crossed over on the table.

In the hall, Gilbert led his small group down the corridor in the direction Elizabetha had come from. There were knocked over vases scattered about, as evidence of her frenzy to escape.

"She was attacked in the lobby, should we go check it out?" Antonio wondered. Gilbert agreed and they made their way to the lobby, which was astoundingly much tidier than the hall. There was nothing knocked down or even slightly out of place.

"It's untouched." Ivan pointed out.

"Hey, do you guys hear something?" everyone froze, and in the silence, a faint ringing could be heard. They stepped into the room further and the ringing became clearer, and sound as if it were coming from underneath the rug. A small bulge in the far corner, when lifted, revealed a cell phone, ringing. Yao picked it up.

"Hey, that's hers!" Gilbert said, pushing through and snatching it from Yao's hand.

"Hey!"

Gilbert opened the phone and saw the ID was Roderich. Everyone edged closer as Gilbert answered the phone.

:::::::::::::::::::

Back in the main room, everyone was at a standstill when it came to more ideas. It was frustratingly quiet, and all we startled when Gilbert's group came stampeding back into the room, receiving everyone's attention.

"Elizabetha, you better start explaining something!" Antonio shouted, though for worried than angry.

"What?" she asked, confused, and a little scared.

"What's going on?" Matthew asked. Ivan turned his attention to Matthew, startling him.

"Matvey, you were in the conference room for a while earlier, weren't you?"

"Uh, yes!"

"Did you ever once see Roderich while you were there?"

"N-no!"

"What is the meaning of all this?" Arthur interrupted. "Did you discover something?"

"We sure did." Gilbert grumbled. Elizabetha looked at Gilbert with wide eyes that didn't understand at all what was happening. Gilbert sighed and approached Elizabetha.

"We found your cell phone." He said, tossing it to her. "Roderich called it." Her eyes lit up as she looked up at him.

"Is he alright?" Gilbert backed up, not knowing what to say. Ivan directed his words to her.

"Roderich called you from the bus station. He's said he was wondering where you were."

"He never went back for any papers, Elizabetha." Antonio explained. Everyone was confused, but quickly turned their gaze to Elizabetha.

"What are you talking about?" she said, shaking.

"Also, in the lobby, there was no evidence that anything attacked you." Yao said.

"You were alone there the whole time." Ivan stated.

"STOP IT!" Elizabetha covered her ears, tears welling up.

"Guys, back off! You're freaking her out." Alfred advised.

"What are you guys saying?" Matthew asked.

"Nothing happened to her, at all," Ivan explained. "It was all in her head."

"Gilbert?" Elizabetha said crying. "I'm not lying. You believe me right?" Gilbert swallowed, sweat rolled down the side of his face, and he did not answer her. "Gilbert!" She began to sob, but soon found herself clutching her throbbing head, and groaning in agony.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Yao said, crouching down to her level. Everyone stood up from their seats and rushed to Elizabetha's side. She wept even more in her pain. "Elizabetha, what's wrong?"

"M-My head!" she moaned. Her crying was interrupted when she vomited onto the floor. Small trances of blood were noticeable.

"Get her to the washroom!" Kiku shouted. Yao, Kiku, and Antonio lifted her up and lugged her off into the hall. Everyone was frightened and confused. Everyone sat back down, except Gilbert, who indecisively shuffled to and fro.

"Gilbert, come sit." His brother Ludwig said, comforting him, sitting him down in a chair next to him. Gilbert hung his head and was quiet.

"I wonder what's wrong with her." Matthew asked. Alfred jerked slightly.

"I don't know, can't be good." He said.

"We need that ambulance, that's for sure." Arthur stated. He looked up at the clock on the wall. "It's 8:00 now."

"No one is coming." Ivan said bluntly. "We will leave here once the others return."

"Who made you the boss?" Alfred snapped.

"No one else has been taking much initiative. Even the leader of our conference hasn't even taken charge." Alfred clenched his fists and glared at Ivan, who was clearly taunting him. "What about you, Matvey?" The Russian smiled, "What do you think we should do?" Alfred's blood boiled.

"Um... We should try and get out of here, I agree with that." Matthew muttered, not wanting to get involved it the argument.

"Hey, whose side are you on Mattie?" Alfred hollered.

"All of you, shut up! There aren't any sides to be on!" Ludwig roared over top Alfred's voice. "Once Elizabetha is feeling better, we're leaving. My car is wrecked, but I bet someone has a car they could fit us in."

"There's too many of us to fit in one car. And we probably shouldn't be driving anyway. The fog is practically opaque out there." Arthur complained.

"Then it's dangerous to be out there at all then," Alfred said, "We should stay here for the night."

"You've been awfully keen on hiding out indoors, haven't you?" Ivan said slyly, "Scared?"

"Shut up!" Alfred growled. He was angry, but he began to feel uneasy when Ivan just kept staring at him, grinning, yet glaring. It was cold, and it made Alfred grow angrier.

"Well, have we come to a conclusion yet?" Arthur asked, subtly getting them back on track.

"We will leave before 9:00." Ivan said with great certainty, "I remember passing by a hospital on my way here. It's not too far, but it will take a while to get there."

"Good Idea," Ludwig said.

"I'll go check on the others in the washroom." Arthur sighed, getting out of his chair and leaving the room. As he left, he was worried about how quiet the room was behind him. It was good that Alfred and Ivan weren't bickering back and forth anymore, but it was prevalent that they were continuing their fight silently with glares. The tension in the air was thick behind him, and he hoped that a tussle wouldn't break out while he was gone. He sighed even deeper and walked away from the room.


	5. Chapter 5

"It's alright, Elizabetha, just let it out." Antonio said comfortingly; hold her long hair behind her back, keeping it out of her face as she emptied herself into the toilet, tears streaming down her flushed-white face. Her breathing was heavy, and she was dizzy, with the horrible taste in her mouth making everything worse. She slumped back and leaned against the wall, parallel to Antonio. Kiku and Yao were outside the stall. Kiku handed Antonio a cool, dampened cloth to wipe her face with.

"Should I go back and clean up the mess back in the other room?" Yao asked.

"Sure," Kiku said, "The custodian's closet is right outside, it shouldn't be locked." Yao nodded and dutifully ran out of the room, dodging around Arthur as he entered. The small group had rushed Elizabetha to the nearest men's washroom, only down the hall a couple of rooms from where they left. In the washroom, there was a fresh puddle on the floor, where Kiku and Yao must have cleaned up an accident from Elizabetha on their way in. Arthur could hear Antonio and her in the stall; she was trying not to cry.

"Arthur-san, what brings you here?" Kiku greeted.

"I came out see how everyone in here was doing. It's getting a little tense in there. Everyone's getting on edge." Arthur explained.

"If Gilbert starts any trouble over this," Elizabetha said trough the stall door, "Tell him I'll kick his ass." She laughed. Arthur grinned, happy to know she was getting better.

"Ivan is thinking we should all leave together before 9:00." Arthur reported. "He believes he knows the way to a hospital."

"Oh, that's wonderful." Kiku smiled. "Ludwig and Gilbert could really use one, along with Elizabetha."

"What's going on, Ludwig and Gilbert got hurt?" Elizabetha asked as she exited the stall, her eyes reddened and face white.

"Yeah, we were trying to leave but out car flipped." Antonio informed her.

"What?"

"They had bandages on them, you didn't notice?"

"No, I didn't!"

"Don't worry, they are doing fine." Kiku assured her, "I patched them up myself. But they should be checked out by a professional either way."

"Agreed," Arthur said, "Shall we go meet back with the others?" Kiku cleaned up the items we had out for Elizabetha and the four of them returned into the hall. Everyone had moved into the hallway, while Yao mopped the mess in the room, which had partially stained the rug. They mentioned a smell.

The large windows lining the long wall of the hallway was clouded by the thick fog outside. It was as if the only thing out there was the color white. It was unsettling.

"If we try and leave, how will we be able to see anything?" Matthew asked. He didn't' receive an answer, for everyone started wondering the same thing. "Hey, Alfred, don't you know your way around city? You've been living here for a while, right?" Alfred scratched his head.

"I would, but I don't live in this part of town. I actually passed this place twice on my way here this morning." He said. He heard Ivan snicker quietly.

"Our only hope is to trust Ivan." Ludwig said. "Are you sure you remember the way?"

"Of course, it isn't too hard to find, actually." Ivan said. Yao had finished cleaning, and wheeled the mop and bucket back to the closet.

"So, looks like we're all about ready to go, right?" Elizabetha asked, chipper. Gilbert was still upset, but toughened up when he saw how she was better than before. He smiled.

"Yeah," he said in support, "Let's get the hell out of here already."

"Yes, let's go." Kiku said, gleaming. The group began to set off down the hall, toward the main lobby.

"Oh, wait, I'll be right back." Alfred said quickly. Before anyone could ask why, he dashed back up the hall to the washroom. Everyone returned to waiting, but Ivan continued to walk on.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked.

"We may as well leave without him. He's stalling." Ivan said determinatively.

"He's not stalling, just wait." He argued. It was in no time at all that Alfred came rushing back.

"Sorry 'bout that." He said. Ivan glared in his direction, and no one seemed to notice besides Alfred. The group began down the hall again. When they reached the lobby, Antonio reached for the doors.

_Clink_

"Locked?" he tried again, but the doors wouldn't open.

"That's impossible, it can be locked." Yao protested, approaching to try at the door himself. He couldn't turn the knob, and the door definitely would not budge. "It's got to be jammed or something!" he determined, twisting the knob in vain. Gilbert and Ludwig also tried their hand at opening it, but it was futile.

"Damn it!" Ludwig barked. He turned toward the group, and Alfred. "Jones, you should have the key, help us out."

"I, uh, don't have it with me." Alfred admitted.

"Where is it?" Gilbert yelled, frustrated.

"I left it at home by accident. A janitor had to let me in. Doubt a key would work anyway, if it's jammed."

"Another job well done, leader." Ivan sneered.

"Why don't you shut the hell up, Braginsky!" Alfred spat.

"Alfred, stop it!" Matthew cried, shocking his brother. "You've been acting so strange today. Ivan is just trying to help."

"Thank you, Matvey." Ivan smiled, setting his hand on Matthew's shoulder.

"Don't touch him!" Alfred hollered. He shouted at his brother, next. "This asshole's been messing with me all evening. I'm sick of it! He has no idea what he's doing, you're all just gonna get into trouble with him."

"Alfred, please, calm down." Arthur said trying to reason with him. Some of the others were starting to get nervous.

"Doesn't anyone remember what happened outside earlier? Someone was killed! Who knows what's out there! We can't risk going out there, we can't see past TWO FEET!" Everyone was silent, slapped back to reality. They all knew very well how dangerous this operation was, but the hope of getting out of there blinded them. A few of them started getting second thoughts.

"But, what about the people who need to go to the hospital?" Elizabetha brought up. She could see Gilbert and Ludwig before her. She saw the bandage covering Gilberts wound on his forehead, and her heart pulsed.

"If we aren't leaving," Kiku said, "I'll do my best to treat them. I've been the one doing that so far, already." Alfred pulled out his cell phone.

"I'll try calling 911 again. Maybe someone's on their way." He said kindly, yet shyly, embarrassed by how angry he was.

"Come on. Let's wait back in the conference room." Ludwig said, sighing. The crowd shuffled back in the direction they came from, but Ivan lingered behind, staring at the American. Alfred was about to dial a number on his phone, when he stopped. He returning Ivan's gaze.

"What do you want?" Alfred said, annoyed. Ivan held off on replying. The silence was heavy around them.

"...Good job." Ivan said spitefully. Alfred turned his face away as he gritted his teeth. "That was quite a moving speech. It helped me learn something." Alfred, non-caringly, turned back to Ivan.

"What?"

"You really are hiding something."

Alfred's hand shook briefly, a twitch, flinching. He was rattled, but didn't let his expression change. His brow furrowed, and sweat began to form.

"I'll tell you a secret, friend," Ivan chuckled, "I never saw a hospital on my way here. I couldn't take us to one even if I wanted to. It was all a lie."

"You-"

"My little act helped me proved just how determined you are on staying put here. Going as far as to shout at your own brother." A more serious look crept onto Ivan's face, "You never even noticed how scared he was after that, did you?" Alfred's heart sank, but he kept his composure, he didn't want to let Ivan see how he was getting to him. Though, upon thinking back, Alfred did remember Matthew's face, the wide eyes of a frightened, but worried sibling. Alfred never wanted to see that happen again, it hurt him. Ivan's smile returned. "Another thing you didn't notice. During your phone call in the hallway earlier, over your phone there," He said, pointing to the cell phone, in Alfred's hand. Al began to sweat. "I'm surprised you never noticed me. I was right there, after all. I could hear everything you said." Alfred kept his composure, it was difficult, though.

"What are you talking about?" Alfred growled.

"Don't worry," Ivan smiled. "I won't say a word of this to anyone, especially after telling you about my tricks, a bit of insurance to keep you happy, friend." Alfred's hand balled into a fist, but his anger left it. He turned away from Ivan, and brought the phone up again. Ivan continued. "So, just between the two of us, what are you hiding? I'm genuinely curious."

"Would you mind?" Alfred snarled over his shoulder. "I have a call to make... another ambulance."

"...Not at all." Ivan smiled. He turned and walked back up the hallway, alone. He was pleased with himself, he had done what he set out to accomplish. Making the American squirm. Behind him, Alfred lifted his thumb to punch in the number, but his hands shook. It made him angry again. _Calm down, Al_, he said to himself, _he's bluffing. He has no idea what's happening_. Alfred's hand ceased it's trembling. _I'm still safe. _

_I can't afford to get caught now._


End file.
